1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector with deflectable contacts and fusible elements.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,523 discloses a contact for an electrical connector with a mounting portion for a solder ball. U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,348 discloses an electrical connector with an upwardly extending contact section and a solder ball. Various other patents disclose land grid array connectors which use solder balls and deflectable spring arms, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,179,624 and 5,772,451 for example.
There is a continuing desire in the area of land grid array connectors to reduce the footprint size of the connectors, or increase contact density for a predetermined footprint size. Furthermore, the length of a spring feature in a contact in a land grid array connector still needs to be long enough and the spring powerful enough to provide certain predetermined contact force requirements. The contact also preferably provides a wiping feature when making contact with another electrical component.
Manufacturing of small electrical contacts by use of a forming operation can results in contacts being manufactured with inconsistent dimensions because of variations in thickness of the stock material. The problem due to stock material thickness can be multiplied in contacts which comprise multiple bends to be formed during the forming operation. This can result in the manufacture of contacts which do not meet predetermined specifications. This can be especially detrimental in small size contacts, such as contacts used in land grid array connectors having 800 or more contacts in a 1 mm×1 mm grid which are mounted in a housing which is only about 42 mm square.
There is a desire to provide a land grid array connector which can use ball grid array technology and which also comprises a greater density of electrical contacts than previously available. However, electrical contacts of the connector still need to provide sufficient contact force, contact wiping, and stability to be commercially marketable as a dependable product with a reasonably long working life. Such a connector also needs to be manufacturable at a reasonable, marketable cost in order to be commercially acceptable to customers.